


it wasn't fated

by kurusui



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, predetermination au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 13:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7716922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurusui/pseuds/kurusui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The airport. Yes. That’s the first place. (8/4/14 cross post)</p>
            </blockquote>





	it wasn't fated

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted 8/4/14 on [tumblr](https://lucirent.tumblr.com/post/93835542713/it-wasnt-fated-au). NO edits below the line. it has been a while, i can't believe it's been 2 years, but i wanted to post this because i think it's a good work despite everything
> 
> —
> 
> it’s not conventional in the “physical evidence of soulmates” kind of way but there is still predetermination involved.  
> i’m a little mad about my characterization but it’s au so i feel like some things can fly under the radar. would i like to elaborate more yes, would i like to attempt and subsequently give up on a longer fic no.  
> this is self-indulgent writing. i wrote this in 2 days. i’m really sorry.

—

They sit on the park bench, watching people walk by.

“Lots of couples,” Nishinoya observes. Kageyama rolls his eyes.

“I wish you would stop bringing it up.” Noya has gone through his share of struggles already, but never hesitates to remind his friends it’s all worth it for love.

“You know, I really think you should just go for it. It’s summer, you have plenty of time to find that person.”

“Yeah, I have the rest of my life too.”

Nishinoya stands up and stretches. “It’s better than just sitting around and complaining, at least. I know you think about this a lot.”

“Because you tell me about it all the time,” Kageyama reminds him, but it’s true. He’s spent a lot of time wondering if he’ll ever find his fated person. He tells himself patience is better, fate will do its own work – but then he thinks of Noya’s forward approach and what does he have to lose?

—

“It’s too hot outside, Suga,” Yachi tells her manager as she walks to the counter. “I’m not ready for this.” The cafe is filled with patrons wishing to escape the summer heat, and someone steps up to order a lemonade. It’s not like they need more sales, she’d like to say, but she doesn’t want to interrupt.

“Wait a minute,” Sugawara says to the customer, opening the fridge and getting Yachi a water bottle. She takes it in her right hand, the left one filled with papers. “Hurry up, those flyers aren’t going to distribute themselves.” He smiles to the impatient teenager with a cheerful “What would you like?” and Yachi gives up, he’s just too good.

She walks back outside and takes the elastic out of her hair, then putting it back up into a ponytail. “Refreshing iced tea! Coffee! Lots of drinks to help you beat the temperature!” She only shouts for a few minutes and she’s already tired, drinking half her water bottle. “Suga-saaan…” Yachi tries to adjust her visor and wipes the sweat off of her forehead.

“Can I have one?”

The guy standing in front of her catches her in an embarrassing position, and she immediately squeaks. He’s wearing a hat to cover his black hair from the sun. Wise, he is. “Yeah, of course,” Yachi tells him, recovering. She leans down to put her water bottle down and hands him a flyer. She waits for him to leave before shouting again, but he reads the promotional words right where he stands. He is quiet, and serious.

“This looks nice,” he says, pointing at a bowl of chocolate ice cream with decorative toppings. “…Have you tried it?”

“Yeah!” Yachi replies enthusiastically. “Yeah, I put on there ‘cause it’s one of my favorite desserts here. You should definitely try it,” and as she says it, she understands how exciting it is to hook customers. Sugawara is right, he always is.

“You put it on there, so you made this?” he asks with interest. Even more flattering.

Yachi nods. “You should go in and try it.” She points her hands towards the door, remembering to add a smile.

“Alright,” the guy says, returning the smile awkwardly. As he walks in, she takes a sip of now warm water, relieved that her talents were helpful.

Minutes later Sugawara opens the door and leans out. “You can come in now,” he says to Yachi.

She’s surprised. “I still have flyers?”

“There’s a guy who wants to talk to you,” Suga grins. “I mean, you don’t have to. But.”

—

Kageyama is so surprisingly endearing, she’s shocked she fell so fast.

“This is so good,” he says, and she can’t help but laugh.

“It really is, isn’t it?” Her head rests on her hand so naturally as she watches him.

“I really like chocolate,” he tells her. She realizes quickly he doesn’t seem to have a filter when he’s happy. Yachi thinks it’s incredibly endearing.

Sugawara brings over a smoothie for Yachi. “Your favorite,” he says, winking. He drops two straws on the table.

“Thanks,” she calls as he walks away. “Ah, wait.” Yachi looks at the table.

“Strawberry?” Kageyama asks her. He doesn’t seem to notice.

“Kinda, it’s mixed berry.” She pauses, glancing over at the other tables. Suga is cleaning up but she happens to catch his eye, and it looks like he can’t stop smiling. He’s a schemer, but that might not be such a bad thing.

“Want to try some?” She holds out a straw.

—

They exchange phone numbers and while she sits on her bed deciding whether to call or not, he decides for her.

Yachi tells him about her posters for her university circle attracting attention from Suga, and it leading to her hiring. “Yeah, I’m really interested in design. It’s something I picked up from my mother.” He listens intently.

“But you really do have great taste,” he insists. “First the ice cream, and then the flyer.”

She’s never been more thankful that phone calls aren’t face-to-face. “I’m really glad you think that way, about me.” This could be the start of something, Yachi tells herself. She doesn’t want to hope for too much yet, but she’s never felt this way before.

“I’ve been looking for someone,” he says seriously. “My fated person– and I guess it’s too soon to say but –”

Her face lights up on the other side of the line.

“– I never thought it could be this easy.”

—

Kiyoko and Yui look at her expectantly. “Third date,” Yachi says, embarrassed.

“Third, no way!” Yui chatters about how quickly she’s gotten close to this mysterious Kageyama, and Kiyoko takes a sip of her water and agrees.

They sit in the crowded food court after spending a day shopping. Her paycheck that week was incredibly satisfying to get - she had been working extra hours because of the low staff at the cafe. It was tiring, but Yachi was always treated by her seniors and it was worth it for her to repay the favor.

“So what’s he like?” Kiyoko asks.

Yachi finds him hard to describe. “We’re really similar, I think. He’s really sweet, not all that talkative. Um, puts up with me when I ramble. And likes volleyball a lot,” she adds. It’s hard not to speak about him without pink tinting her cheeks.

“Ooh, that’s great. True sign of a great guy,” Yui says, with a thumbs-up. “Definitely invite him to one of our study sessions and I’ll interrogate him for you!”

“Hm, maybe,” Yachi responds as Kiyoko laughs softly, “but he’s in a totally different field than us. I kinda doubt he enjoys studying and - kinda scared to ask.”

“You could offer to help him,” Kiyoko suggests.

“Yeah, I just– ” She takes a deep breath and exhales. “I guess I just wanna get to know him better first. Everything is really great so far, so I think I just need to take it step by step. But I promise that I’ll introduce you guys someday.”

“Someday soon,” Yui says hopefully, reaching for her smoothie.

“Speaking of introductions.” Kiyoko stops Yui’s hand and she looks up surprised. “What about Daichi-san-”

Something behind Yachi falls and it’s the sound of her purse slipping off her chair.

“Sorry,” the culprit says, but it doesn’t sound apologetic. He stands tall above her, she’s already short but sitting down he towers, and it’s intimidating. Behind him is another guy who looks like he would say sorry in different circumstances.

Yui folds her arms in Yachi’s defense. “Say it like you mean it- oh, wait. You’re that underclassman in my advanced Calc class. Right? Right?”

Alone Yachi might have stood up but she’d never tell him off. She is mildly shocked that Yui is so brave and confrontational; even so, she can’t bring herself to face him.

“Tsukishima,” his friend supplies. He rolls his eyes.

“I am sorry,” Tsukishima says, still lacking conviction, and she finds the words impossible to read. Then he slings his bag over his shoulder and they walk away.

Kiyoko picks up the purse for her and Yachi says “sorry” a few times. Yui huffs because she didn’t feel the apology wasn’t sincere.

“The nerve of people these days, Yachi, don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault at all.”

Still, she wishes her missing bravery would show up one of these days.

—

The guy shows up at her cafe, though. She thinks of Yui and doesn’t want that incident to plague her thoughts any longer.

“Yachi, he wants a job,” Sugawara tells her when she asks why Tsukishima is hanging around.

“Well.” She struggles to come up with a reason why he should refuse.

“Do you have a grudge against him?” he asks bluntly.

“No,” she says more forcefully than she imagined it would come out. “But. No…” She can’t say she does but she also can’t picture actually working with him. Tsukishima is–

“Let me talk to him,” she says. There it is.

—

He waits in the other room and doesn’t look surprised to see her. “Oh.”

“Are you going to be insubordinate?” Yachi asks. She crosses her fingers, already afraid. He’s leaning against the wall and she doesn’t dare get too close.

“What gave you that idea?” He’s not defensive, but curious. The way she can’t understand him makes it even harder for her to say what she means.

“Well, your attitude– at the mall. You can’t do that to me! Okay!” Her question morphs into demands. “Now, answer me!”

He smiles a little bit.

“Only to people I don’t respect,” Tsukishima replies, standing up straight. “As of now… I don’t think I’d mind taking orders from you.” He puts his hand out. “And I was sorry.”

Her mouth opens a little but she quickly shuts it. Now that she’s got him, no use letting him see any weakness.

“Nice to work with you,” she tells him, taking his hand.

—

Over the days Yachi finds that without even trying, she keeps finding opportunities for dates.

“It’s an accident, I swear,” she laughs with Kageyama at the convenience store. He’s holding an ice cream package.

“Want one?”

They end up buying a bundle of assorted ice creams and sit on the hillside outside.

“If you could have one wish in life?” he asks her. “What would it be?”

Yachi thinks. There isn’t really anything she’s looking for at the moment; by his tone of voice she figures Kageyama does, though. “Let me answer later,” she says. ““I’d save that wish for when I need it. But you? If there’s one thing that you want, and you’d do anything just so that could happen?”

“I never want to be alone,” Kageyama replies, firmly.

Yachi grabs his hand. “I’ll try my best to help you!”

She says it like a promise she never wants to break.

—

“Excuse me, aren’t the prices of the coffees and ice creams switched today?” a regular customer asks her.

Yachi looks up behind her. Last night she was the one who copied the prices onto the chalkboard after the updating, and she wants to hit herself for making such a crucial mistake. “Yeah, they are, sorry! I’ll get those fixed in a minute, thank you so much.” She helps the customer and thanks fate that this happened before more people came in.

No one new has entered the cafe, so she thinks it’s safe to change the prices. She runs back into the storage room to look for the stepladder and finds it, rickety as always. She makes a mental note to tell Suga to buy a new one.

When she comes back out Tsukishima is already at the counter, getting people coffee.

“You know the prices are wrong, right?” Yachi calls, carrying the ladder in her arms.

“Yeah, I saw. Put that down,” he tells her, calmly walking over and lifting the ladder out of her hands. “You won’t be tall enough anyway.”

She watches him anxiously and then settles herself, knowing he’s capable of fixing things himself. She goes to clean up tables as Suga comes out of the back room.

“Wait, don’t use that–” he says, as the ladder starts to tip. Tsukishima is holding the sign and it’s heavy, she knows, and he’s going to fall and he’s going to get hurt. Yachi runs over to stabilize him but behind her, a customer’s glass shatters and she turns around instinctively.

Yachi looks back and luckily Sugawara got there in time to help him. She realizes how fearful she was and shudders.

It’s as if fate pulled them apart at the last second.

—

She tags along with Hinata when he goes to cheer on his sister at her track meet. The late summer sun is hot and Yachi is grateful for the vending machine by the entrance. She runs out between events and buys a few sodas.

She walks back to find him watching in the shade.

“Found a spot,” he tells her, reaching out for a drink.

She opens a can for him and he gulps it down. “Thanks so much, Yachi, what would I do without you?”

“Natsu’s been doing well, huh? Still 2 hours to go,” she says, sighing.

“Natsu found someone, I think,” Hinata says abruptly, “who she’s meant to be with.”

“That’s great for her!” Yachi is surprised. Natsu has always been outgoing but what she really didn’t anticipate was Hinata’s lack of enthusiasm.

“Don’t mind your age, Hinata. You still have a long time–”

“You don’t think it’s us, right?” he asks, looking towards the track, not meeting her eyes.

“…Hinata, it can’t be. It has to be me and… Kageyama,” Yachi says softly.

“But we know it’s not that simple,” he answers, clenching his fingers. “Natsu was so insistent they were just friends… and we, we could still be more.”

She hears desperation and doubt, and struggles to find her own words. “But you don’t feel anything for me besides friendship, right?”

“Well, what about you, then? How do you know that what you feel about Kageyama is love now, or will still be tomorrow? How can any of us know?” He buries his head in his hands.

“I– it just feels a certain way like… love, I think…”

Yachi thinks about what she’s been taught and what she’s seen around her and realizes she can’t be sure anymore.

—

“I almost didn’t catch you there!” she shouts to Tsukishima. “I’ve been looking for you.”

He looks to her, not understanding why she called him out. “You knew I was going to be here?” he asks, among a crowd of people. Yachi can’t see his face clearly, the setting sun behind him.

“I called her,” Yamaguchi says, appearing behind Tsukishima with a hand wave. “‘Cause she told me at the cafe she really wanted to see the fireworks with someone, and you said about her–”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima says quickly, and Yachi raises eyes but doesn’t say anything.

“Look, they’re starting,” voices chatter around them, and Yachi pulls both of them down to the ground. Fireworks of various patterns shoot into the sky and the kids next to them shout excitedly.

“They’re too slow,” Tsukishima complains in a low voice. “How are these even cool-looking.”

“Shh.” It’s Yamaguchi’s turn to tell him to be quiet. “They’re free.”

Yachi just watches them, mesmerized. Time passes impossibly quickly as she sits on the grass and the final bursts of color signal the end of the show.

“That was great,” Yachi says as they walk away. Someone pushes through the group of people; “Oh–”

She feels herself falling, but no one catches her.

“Tsukki! You were right there…” Yamaguchi extends a hand to help her get up.

“I. Sorry,” he tells her, looking away. It’s not like him to be flustered. “I couldn’t think straight.”

“It’s okay,” Yachi replies, “but tell me why.” She’s confided in him plenty of times but strangely, he’s never done the same. It doesn’t seem fair to her, because she always feels better after talking to him.

Tsukishima looks at her with narrowed eyes. “Normally I would let it go, sure you’re not obligated to help me all the time,” Yachi continues, “but clearly you would have and something is on your mind, so be honest and explain yourself. I know I’m putting you in a hard place.”

Yamaguchi moves to slip away, but Tsukishima catches him by the wrist and makes him stay. “I don’t have to tell you everything I’m thinking about,” he hisses.

“Yeah but you’re holding something inside you and that’s not healthy!” she shouts. Somewhere along the line she gets really angry. “Stop being self-preserving, it hurts the people around you who care.”

Tsukishima freezes. “Please don’t get too close.”

He runs away, leaving Yamaguchi to apologize, and she curses herself for going too far.

—

Everything seems so perfect yet she knows it’s not, and she doesn’t understand.

She meets Kageyama at sunset, and they decide to go for a late night movie. Yachi smiles, but it feels ingenuine, which is one of the last things she wants to feel around him. 

“How was your day?” Kageyama asks her. He looks tired, which makes her sad.

“Mm, fine,” she tells him, taking his hand and locking their fingers together out of habit. “I guess I’ve just dealt with a lot of conflicting thoughts lately, and it just ends up putting me in a foul mood.” She hopes that despite telling him that, he wouldn’t ask into it as he usually would. She’s sure that if she told Kageyama about her relationship worries he would assure her everything was fine, and that wouldn’t help at all.

To her surprise, he sighs deeply and tells her he’s feeling the same.

“Things will always better, though, right? We just have to stick it out,” Kageyama says, and she has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that they’re thinking about the same thing.

“Yeah, of course,” Yachi replies, and that smile cracks a little.

—

“Let’s study together,” Tsukishima says to her reluctantly after work, a couple days before they both have an exam. “We can get a good couple of hours in, I’m sure.”

This is the first time Tsukishima has ever approached her about this, and it’s a pleasant surprise. So they go to the library, which she was already planning to do anyway.

“So what first?” Yachi asks him, seated at a table. “We could do vocab, or research for the essay.”

He plays with his pencil. “Tell me about what you’re worried about.”

“Well, mostly the writing section, I think–”

“No,” Tsukishima says seriously, “personally, in your life. Because you look tired recently.” Yachi starts to think studying isn’t what he really wanted to do.

“You… honestly.” He looks her in the eyes and she feels weak. “I can tell you the truth, but you can’t talk to me?”

“That’s not it,” he insists. “It’s Kageyama, right?”

She’s frustrated he’s changing the subject, but it’s true that Kageyama is pressing on her mind. “It kind of is him too, but please– I. I know you saw it coming.”

“I’m sorry,” Tsukishima says, “if I made things harder on you when that was already happening– No, stop. Stop crying.”

But she doesn’t know how to keep the tears from flowing out of her eyes, so instead she grips his hand tightly.

—

Hours later she packs up her bag and smiles again.

“Thanks for helping me with that,” Yachi says to him, waving her notebook as they part ways.

“You didn’t need my help, your grades are better than mine in any case,” Tsukishima replies, but nods anyway.

“With everything,” she tells him instead, “Next time–”

“Bye,” Tsukishima says in a strangely low voice, walking away. This is something else he rarely says and she’s worried.

“See you tomorrow?” Yachi calls before he walks too far.

He waves his hand in the air.

—

“It feels so engineered,” she confides in Yui that night. “It took me too long to realize.”

“Like we have a checklist of things that soulmates should do together, and we just cross each one off and it never ends. And that’s all we do.”

“End it, then,” Yui replies. “I’m sorry I never got to meet him, but,” she shrugs, “it doesn’t sound right to me.”

Finally she musters the courage to call Kageyama out. Carefully she picks her words – I need to talk to you, no misleading urgency, although she needs to get this out.

They meet in the park, leaves falling around them. “I think… we need a break, at least.”

It crushes her to see his face, but he understands.

“I know as well as you do it’s not working out. But thank you for the time we spent together.”

—

She calls Tsukishima, hands trembling, nervous, but excited. She already planned out what she was going to say– about the exam. Let’s go to school together. I want to get closer. This is genuine, she knows, this is real.

He doesn’t pick up. Again, again.

Yachi thinks, oh, it has to be a coincidence. Her paranoia has to be preying on her; still, she tries Yamaguchi instead.

“Yamaguchi? Hi?”

“Ah, Yachi-san…” His tone is unnerving, like he anticipated this and she can only hope it doesn’t mean anything worse.

He catches himself and once he finds his own composure his voice rings clearly and Yachi hears everything she didn’t want all at once.

“Thank you.” At least he ended it quickly.

Turns out Tsukishima’s going to move to the other side of the country. His brother is sick. He didn’t tell her.

The airport. Yes. That’s the first place.

“I need a ride, Mom.” Her eyes plead and that’s when she realizes this is that one wish she needs fulfilled.

Yachi runs and runs but she trips and scrapes her knee. And there’s a pharmacy right there that she can stop in and buy bandages but she knows there’s no time. This is a race against fate.

Now there’s a security issue and so people are crowding and she can’t get there and then the police are blocking her way. She hasn’t seen him.

—

Tsukishima’s walking to the gate and he keeps looking back. It’s too late for regrets, right? That’s the beauty of noble idiocy.

He doesn’t know if he loves her. It’s true.

But they could have had so much time to figure it out.

He turns his last corner.

—

She bumps into Kageyama, alone, on the street in winter.

“It’s so cold, please treat me to a hot chocolate,” Yui asks, shivering. Yachi nods and pulls her coat closer. They keep walking on the street and the falling snow gets thicker, so they start to run.

“Ah,” a voice says at the door. In her rush Yachi actually hit someone, and she apologizes profusely before looking at his face.

Knowing who he is makes it worse. “I’m really sorry, Kageyama,” she tells him, and he shakes his head like there’s nothing to worry about. Yui stares at her.

“Don’t worry– I’m going to meet someone,” he says to her. On his face is a faint smile.

He exits the cafe and she goes in.

“I’m sorry,” Yui tells Yachi at the table.

She folds her hands and shakes her head. “This wasn’t the first time I’ll meet him, and it won’t be the last.” There’s some bittersweet hope there. He’s happy.

Despite fate’s choices, maybe there’s still a way she can be happy too.

—

She starts chasing every opportunity, looking for all her 1% chances.

Yachi knows now that the path to what she wants is not the easy one but she knows she can’t be satisfied if she doesn’t try everything she can to see him again.

Seven years later she’s leaving her hotel, running to catch her meeting and presses the close door button quickly, jamming it until the elevator doors near close shut, but then she sees him running down the hallway.

And this meeting was supposed to be everything but she waits on the first floor and crosses her fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> i’m crossing my fingers too xx  
> in this universe fate manipulates events towards the “soulmates” it decides on but it can’t force people to love each other.  
> and yeah in this world everyone thinks about their fate. it’s a big deal so even someone like hinata is worried about not finding their person.  
> in truth soulmates are all great and romantic-sounding, but they limit your options, seriously.  
> (i’m really sorry about ruining kageyachi)  
> in a way i know that i’m depicting yachi and tsukishima as soulmates so yeah… well… believe me when i say they have their eyes open for other people too but in this time and place it just doesn’t work out with anyone else. just. just let me have this okay.


End file.
